protected by the UDHR, ICCPR, and other human rights treaties as well as
under customary law.22
IHRL is the applicable framework within Israel, and as such, Palestinian citizens
of Israel are entitled to the rights enshrined in this body of law, including the
UDHR, ICCPR, and ICESCR, to which Israel is signatory, as well as the 1992
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious
and Linguistic Minorities, for they constitute a minority group inside Israel.
The applicability of the law enforcement paradigm in the oPt has not been
put into question by the international community or the majority of experts,
and therefore, the law enforcement paradigm provides the legal framework
through which to explore the legality of the Israeli policies and practices in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.23 This means that when suppressing
Palestinian resistance, Israel must follow the same rules as security and
police forces anywhere else in the world.24 Protests, demonstrations, clashes
or other public disturbances, even when weapons are used, do not reach the
threshold of hostilities.25
In the law enforcement paradigm, both IHL and IHRL govern the policing
of the territory by the occupying power. As neither Article 43 of the Hague
Regulations nor Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention provide specific
details about the use of force,26 measures of force used by the occupying
power are entirely regulated by IHRL, notwithstanding the obligations of
Israel to maintain public order and safety derived from IHL. Under the law
enforcement paradigm, the use of force is only justified where there is a
concrete and imminent risk to life, meaning that the use of force always
needs to be necessary and proportional.
The applicability of the law enforcement paradigm is put into question
when there is a situation of protracted armed violence that has reached a
certain level of intensity. In the case of the Gaza Strip, there are different
opinions regarding which paradigm is applicable in the case of the 2008-09,
2012 and 2014 wars on the Gaza Strip. Outside those armed conflicts, the
law enforcement paradigm regulates the use of force against Palestinian
residents of the Gaza Strip. While a general consensus does not exist, many
experts agree that when the violence is high and there is a lack of effective
22 Ibid.
23 Diakona International Humanitarian Law Resource Centre, Law Enforcement under Occupation: The
Case of Willful Killings in the West Bank, August 2015, page 6. Available at: https://www.diakonia.se/
globalassets/blocks-ihl-site/ihl-file-list/ihl---briefs/the-case-of-willful-killings-in-the-west-bank.pdf
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention regulates the penal legislation of the occupied territory
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